Traps
by TheLateNightStoryteller
Summary: Set in a future world (over a year after the season 1 finale) where Fitz and Simmons are together. After a plane crash Simmons and Fitz find themselves stranded somewhere in the North American wilderness and they are not alone. Set between Shapeshifters and Loch Ness Monster.
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place in an alternative (non-canon) world over a year after the season 1 Finale where Fitz and Simmons are together and is a sequel to Monster Goo and Shapeshifters.

I leave a reference to the TV show Fringe in every chapter of every story I write. Feel free to look for them even if you have never watched the show. Look for weird and sticks out haha.

Agents of Shield belongs to its stupendous creators and ABC and Marvel. Yay for all of them :).

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><p>-/-/

Jemma dangled a few feet from the ground, her parachute snagged in the branches of a pine tree, and her hands shook as she fumbled to undo the buckle which held her in.

She fell into a crouch with a thud, sending an unpleasant shockwave up her legs and hurting her feet. No breaks or sprains though.

"Leo!" She called, an edge of panic to her voice. He hadn't drifted too far had he? She'd seen two chutes above her on her way down, his and the pilot's, falling together and away from her but not far away. "Leo! Mr. Stevens!" She called the name of their pilot as well.

She desperately hoped neither of them had been hurt as they fell, there were so many trees, so many branches to catch on, be injured by.

"Leo!" She shouted, causing birds launch themselves out of nearby trees chirping fearfully at the commotion. Each minute of searching in which she didn't hear a reply caused her chest to tighten and she felt as if a worm were slowly constricting around her heart.

Why wasn't he answering?

"Jemma?" She heard at last, his voice high and scared but strong.

"I'm coming!" She told him with a rush of relief, breaking into a run.

"No!" He protested forcefully, surprising her and her feet halted while her body continued forward, almost making her fall, and she flailed her arms to keep her balance.

"Why not?" She demanded. He didn't sound too far away, only a few meters, but the thick brush kept her from seeing him.

"Just- just come slowly," he instructed and something in his tone made her stomach churn uneasily. "Watch where you step."

She did as he said, placing each foot cautiously in front of the other and fixing her eyes on the ground in front if her until she reached a clearing and saw him hanging by his parachute on the branch of a tree, as she had been, another harness swinging empty close by.

There was a pit underneath him, definitely dug by someone, with thick, sharp skewers of wood pointing terrifyingly towards him. Mr. Stevens had been impaled by several of them and she let out a gasp of horror and stumbled backwards against the twigs of a tall shrub which poked her back and startled her forward again.

"Jemma!" Leo yelled because she stopped only half a meter from the edge of the pit.

"What- " she squeaked, however there was no end to her sentence and she took quick, frightened breaths as the scene before her sunk in.

Mr. Stevens had fallen onto the spikes, probably after releasing himself from his harness. The branches, leaves and debris beneath him caused her to guess the pit had been hidden and he hadn't known he would fall the extra eight or so feet to his death. Why Leo hadn't released his own harness at the same time was a mystery but his hesitation had saved his life, for now. He still dangled hazardously over it on a branch which did not appear as if it would hold his weight for much longer.

"He f-fell in," he stammered. "He t-told me to w-wait so I c-could see how to land." He was trembling, huge, round eyes locked onto Mr. Stevens . "Oh my God... Jemma he's dead."

He was hyperventilating, shocked and Jemma realized she needed to focus him before he too fell into the deadly pit.

"Leo, Leo look at me," she commanded gentle but firm. He did as he was told, eyes misty like he was in a trance. "Its going to be alright." She reassured him and he smiled courageously at her, the mist dissipating.

Jemma thought quickly, the lower branches of his tree were thick enough she could climb them. If she got close enough and he swung over she was sure she could catch him, or at least pull him away from the deep hole so that he wouldn't fall in.

"Sweetheart we need to get you down from there," she informed him steadily, inching carefully around the pit and beginning to climb up the tree.

"Yeah," he agreed giving his head a shake to clear it. The movement caused the branch his chute was tangled around to creak threateningly and he let out a yelp as she fought to remain calm.

"Don't move," she warned softly even though her heart was beating rapidly like the blows of a boxer on a punching bag.

"Yeah, I got that from the terrifying creak," he replied jokingly. Good, he had some of his old humour back. That was a good sign.

"Until I tell you to move," she continued slowly.

He gulped. "...OK."

She took a breath to stop her voice from quivering before she went on. This had better work or... Well it had better work.

"When I tell you to, only when I tell you to," she asserted. "You're going to swing towards me and release the harness."

"What?!" He exclaimed eyes wide. "No, I can't. No, no, no, I'll end up like Mr. Stevens. He didn't even have time to scream, he just died. I can't- I can't. It's too far, I won't be able to get enough momentum to swing over it." He stared at the dead pilot, shaking madly and sending cracks across the branch.

"Yes, yes you can," she insisted trying to draw his attention away from the spikes. "Leo look over here, stop looking down."

His gaze returned to her, eyes pleading and she felt her own burn and moisten so she blinked rapidly and swallowed hard because she couldn't show him how scared she was. She needed to ground him and she couldn't do that if she fell apart.

'I can't let him die,' she thought despairingly. 'You won't,' she promised herself.

"You're going to swing over and release the harness so the parachute doesn't drag you down," she explained. "And you are not going to fall because I'm going to catch you. I swear I'll catch you." she vowed, extending one hand towards him and gripping the tree's trunk tightly with the other.

His eyes met her eyes again, filled with trust. "OK."

She smiled encouragingly at him, determined not to let him down. "That's my brave, wonderful sweetheart," she praised warmly. "Ready on the count of three?"

"Ready," he told her and so was she.

"One, two, three, swing!" She demanded.

He hurled himself at her, unbuckling the harness as he did so and she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her as the branch snapped and dragged the parachute down with it onto the wooden skewers.

His weight threw her off balance and once he crashed into her they fell together the few feet to the ground with the crackling and slapping of thin branches followed by a hard smack upon landing.

Jemma pushed herself up, sore but relatively unharmed and he did the same beside her.

"Jemma?" He asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "You?"

He nodded and she let out a sigh of relief before pulling him into her arms.

They were both trembling now and for a minute neither of them spoke. She leaned her face against his and breathed in his comforting scent, trying to stop her insides from feeling like jelly.

"Mr. Stevens-" He choked, unable to put words to what had occurred and she felt him shudder.

"I know," she whispered, tightening her grip on him and letting out a sob.

He stroked her hair soothingly and after a small whimper escaped him she rubbed his back gently as they tried to come to grips with everything that had happened.

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><p>-/-/

Thanks so much for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads. :) You are all traps of cool.

Anyone who has never read a story by me, welcome along!

The Fringe reference is the worm around the heart. In the first season episode In Which We Meet Mr. Jones there is a man named Mr. Loeb who is infected by a worm-like parasite which wraps itself around his heart

The next chapter is going to be going back to what happened just before this, I wrote this one first though and it actually seemed like a fun place to begin.

I don't have a very good grasp on physics (which is probably why my cousin loves to tell me "physics says no" when I try something that isn't gonna work) so I have no idea if the swinging thing would really work haha.

If the plot of this story sounds familiar fear not, I will give mention to the stories various inspirations later. I just didn't want to give away the story too soon ;).


	2. Chapter 2

****6 Hours Earlier****

"So you two all ready for your braniac convention?" Skye asked, skipping into Leo's room where Jemma was helping him finish packing the last of his shirts.

"That one," Jemma decided, pointing to the navy blue shirt he held up for her consideration.

"Really? I like the red better," he stated, lifting the blue one and raising his eyebrows at it.

"Then bring the red one," she replied rolling her eyes. "You mean the Shield Science and Technology conference?" She asked, turning to Skye.

"Yeah, but why did you pick the blue one?" Leo fretted, however she wasn't listening and he frowned as she chatted with Skye, filling her in on what the conference was about.

What was wrong with the red one? It wasn't fair to just reject someone's shirt and then not tell them why. He grumbled to himself about unexplained criticism as he folded the red one and placed it back in his drawer.

"What are you mumbling about?" Skye inquired when she noticed his absence from the conversation.

"Oh you packed the blue one?" Jemma observed. "It's such a nice colour isn't it? That deep, rich blue. Though the red is lovely as well." She beamed at him and he became soft fluffy teddy bear under the warmth of her gaze.

"Nothing," he told Skye, smiling fondly at Jemma. "I'm just not looking forward to the hotel, they always have us staying at the creepiest places," he improvised, becoming caught up in his explanation because it was true. "I mean it's not like the non-creepy places are any more expensive, do we have to stay in that one with those terrifying paintings every time?" He ranted.

"They're from the owner's collection," she objected, turning back to Skye and shaking her head. "And it isn't as if there are a lot of other hotels around the _remote secret __location_ of the conference." she reminded him. "I think they're fun, Fitz just doesn't like the spiders."

"Or the messed up fetus apple," he complained, waving his arms around to make his point. "Tell her about the fetus apple," he insisted poking a finger at her. "You said yourself it was weird."

"I said it was strange for someone so young to be experimenting with surrealism." She corrected him with a sigh. "I liked the painting."

"It was a cross section of an apple with human fetuses instead of seeds!" he exclaimed.

"It was a form of self expression," she countered.

"Expression of what?" He muttered.

"It does sound a bit creepy," Skye conceded and he lifted his eyebrows smugly at Jemma who scrunched her nose playfully at him, once again transforming him into a teddy bear with her adorable face.

"I'd better go get my things," she announced, glancing down at her watch. "See you in a minute."

She hugged Skye who wished her a great trip before giving him a kiss and skipping off.

"A fetus apple? Really?" Skye questioned.

He nodded, eyes wide, and she giggled at him.

"Have a good time," she wished him, wrapping him in tight hug. "Don't get into too much trouble with all those new gadgets." She joked.

"Don't you get into too much trouble without our good influence around," he kidded back, returning her hug before taking the handle of his suitcase and lugging it behind him to meet Jemma in the cargo area.

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"So are you presenting or just attending?" their pilot, who had introduced himself as Hoban Stevens, called from the open cockpit.

"Presenting," Jemma chirped up to him from her seat beside Leo.

They were in a small jet headed to the convention. Its remote and secret location meant regular air travel was out of the question and the Bus was too big to land on the runway. Besides the smaller plane was easier on fuel.

"Oh?" he replied and she grinned at the excitement in his voice. "If you need a test audience I have clearance." he offered cheerfully. "I'm always a guinea pig for my wife's lectures, she teaches at the academy maybe you know Professor Washburne?"

She exchanged a glance with Leo who was smiling. "All chemistry is good chemistry," they chanted her motto and he laughed.

"Yup, that'd be her," he mused.

"She was an excellent Professor," Jemma informed him brightly because she had fond memories of the class.

"Yeah, tell her thanks from us if you see her," Leo added.

"If you don't mind passing along the message," Jemma put in politely.

"'Course not," he chortled. "I'm used to meeting old students of hers. And it's usually a pleasure flying Sci-Tech graduates, I get to hear all the latest news. Not that I don't take good care of all my passengers," he informed them proudly. "I always get them from A to B in one piece."

"Do you have a background in science Mr. Stevens?" She inquired, she was pleased that he was their pilot.

"Nah," he let them know breezily. "Just a love of learning new things, Ally talks my ear off at home with her gobbledygook but I only get about half of it. I just know she's working on ways to store hydrogen for energy. Something about MOFs"

"Metal organic frameworks," Leo told him, seeming content in the conversation and bouncing up and down a bit adorably.

"Hydrogen does have a higher energy content than gasoline but it only has a high specific energy content at high pressures," Jemma added, happy as her partner to have someone to chat with.

"MOFs could be a useful method of compressed storage," Leo finished.

He chuckled at them. "That sounds like it."

"So... uh, you and...Professor Wash both work for Shield," Leo stated using the short for their old professor's name and fidgeting a little.

"Yup," Mr. Stevens affirmed.

"And, er..." he cast Jemma a nervous look and she raised her eyebrows at him. What was he getting at with this? And why was he suddenly looking like a newborn rabbit all pink and skittish. "I mean then obviously that's allowed," he continued, staring at his knees. "For you to marry one of your co-workers."

Jemma suddenly found herself blushing as well as she understood what he was asking. She couldn't pretend she hadn't wondered the same thing, though she didn't feel they were nearly ready to need an answer just yet. She wasn't ready for marriage and she didn't think Leo was either. Still, she found herself listening carefully for Mr. Stevens' response.

"You making sure I follow the rules?" he kidded, obviously amused. "Or do you have someone special in mind?"

"Oh... er well I do have... special, yeah." he fumbled changing from pink to red. "But I... uh...I'm not really thinking of the the immediate future," he concluded casting her an embarrassed glance.

She took his hand and smiled at him, nodding to show she understood and he relaxed slightly, smiling back and squeezing her hand before letting go so they could take their arms back.

"Well, I don't know if they really like it," Mr. Stevens admitted, unperturbed by what he was saying. "But no one's outright objected, even before Hydra when we were better organized. Not that director Coulson isn't doing his best," he explained swiftly even though he hadn't yet been told that Coulson was their friend and their leader. "It's just that after Hydra... well we were a little broken for while."

"Yeah," Jemma and Leo acknowledged quietly and there was silence for a bit as they all recalled the terrifying day friends turned on friends and many brave souls were lost.

"But we're getting better," Mr. Stevens claimed optimistically and the two of them concurred. "Why don't you two try out your presentation," he suggested and they launched into their speech, glad to have moved on to a lighter conversation.

Mr. Stevens was a good listener and asked questions when he didn't understand something which Jemma was happy to answer. Leo got carried away and went off track a bit, explaining their various tracking devices, praising her odorless scent and gushing on about what a useful tool it was for putting a discrete track on people and she added enthusiastically that it wouldn't be nearly as useful without the device he'd created to detect it.

He wasn't hiding his affection for her as they spoke to Mr. Stevens and she suspected he felt more comfortable revealing his feelings for her in front of him than he would normally after their conversation.

His warmth made her heart sing and Jemma found herself wondering what kind of future they would have together and what sorts of challenges they were likely to face.

'Nothing we can't handle,' she decided confidently.

"I better increase our altitude," Mr. Stevens mumbled to himself, flipping a few of the controls. "Don't want to smash into that mountain coming up." He joked and paused as he worked on the controls. "Hmmm, that's... strange." he commented and for the first time since they'd met him he didn't sound chipper.

"Is everything alright?" she asked apprehensively.

"No," he confessed. "The plane isn't responding the way it should be, there might be something wrong with the controls. Don't worry though, I take care of my passengers, we'll be fine." he assured them distractedly and Jemma felt a small rush of panic.

Leo took her hand and she held his tightly, looking to him and letting his small, comforting smile ground her.

"I'm really sorry about this you two but we're going to need to evacuate the airplane," he announced solemnly.

"What?" she squeaked. "You can't fix it?" Leo exclaimed alarmed.

"Nope," he told them hurriedly. "It's so so strange it just- never mind" he interrupted himself. "Just listen closely because we don't have a lot of time. I need you to grab those parachutes and buckle them on."

He explained to them the procedures of properly securing the harnesses and they complied quickly, realizing they had no time to argue. They had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

/-/-/

Jemma peered out the open door and over the edge, her breaths coming quick and shallow, clearly terrified and Leo felt a consuming surge of protectiveness, an overwhelming need to keep her safe.

But she wasn't safe and there was nothing he could do to change that, her only chance was to jump. She had to jump however frightening it was.

"You've done this before, you crazy thrill chaser," he reminded her, humour in his voice as he attempted to calm her. "And now you have a parachute, you'll just float down slowly. No problem for fearless Jemma the daredevil."

She _was_ brave, he'd seen her mighty courage firsthand more than once. She wasn't at all a daredevil though and there were probably a good number of things which could go wrong even with a chute however he didn't think either of them should be imagining any of them at the moment so he smiled at her as if this was some ride at a theme park she was nervous about trying and she smiled back, as if she'd decided to board it.

"I love you," she told him softly and though she didn't move her words reached out to him like an extended hand.

"I love you too Jemma," he replied taking it with his own words. "You have to go, go now, we're right behind you."

Mr. Stevens was finishing up with his harness and gave them a thumbs up.

She gifted him with one last beautiful smile, linking her heart to his with her eyes that stared into him for a second, filling him with her wonderful light. He stared back, seeing every precious part of her and feeling an unbreakable connection tethering them together.

Then she looked back out the door, features hardened in determination, took a shaky breath and jumped.

He felt like his stomach dropped with her and held his breath until he saw her parachute deploy.

"Hold on a sec agent Fitz," Mr. Stevens instructed hastily as he prepared himself to leap after her. "Let's make sure that that harness is clipped right." His voice was calm and even and he kept a light smile on his face as he adjusted Leo's buckle. "There you go."

"Jemma...?" Leo breathed, suddenly fearing she'd made the same mistake as him.

However Mr. Stevens kept his easy grin. "Agent Simmons is fine, don't think I wasn't keeping my eye on you two. I take care of my passengers, I-"

"Get them from A to B in one piece." They finished together, Leo catching his grin.

"We'd really better get going now though," he remarked good-naturedly and Leo recalled the rapidly approaching mountain side with jolt. "After you." He motion with his hands to the door and Leo edged towards it.

It was awfully far down but Jemma was already descending and wherever she went he would follow so he took a breath and jumped after her.

He fell frighteningly fast, the wind roaring in his ears until he pulled the cord for his chute and was yanked upwards, floating peacefully towards the far off earth.

Glancing briefly to his right, he saw Mr. Stevens who gave him a thumbs up which he returned before his eyes were drawn back to Jemma like iron to a magnet.

He stared at her drifting chute, veering off a short distance away from them, anxiously, feeling like some vital part of him was caught in the wind, exposed and vulnerable. He hated how little power they had over what would happen. At least if she was in control he could let himself take comfort in his faith in her strength and her intelligence but whether or not she landed safely was almost entirely up to chance and it made him sick with worry.

On another day the slow, gentle decent would have been serene and enjoyable however at that time, as Jemma disappeared beneath the canopy and he heard the plane crash into the mountainside, it seemed unbearably slow.

Until they hit the trees. Then he was going far too quickly and the branches smacked against his skin and scratched the side of his face before he could lift his arms to protect himself.

His chute tangled in the branches and he halted several feet above the ground, feet dangling, before Mr. Stevens crashed down, caught hanging a short distance away on a nearby tree by the ropes of his own chute.

"Phew, that wasn't so bad," he announced. "You alright agent Fitz?"

"I'm fine," he replied swiftly, unable to remain as upbeat as Mr. Stevens while he was unsure of Jemma's status. "We have to find Simmons." he declared, his hands darting to his buckle. All he could think was that he had to get to her, get to her and make sure she was OK.

"Woah there, wait just a second," Mr. Stevens warned and Leo's respect for the other man's judgement stopped his actions however his insides still twisted impatiently. "You won't be in any condition to go searching for anyone if you break your ankle on the way down." he pointed out reasonably. "Let me go first and do what I do," he suggested and Leo forced himself wait while Mr. Stevens reached for his own buckle. "We're going to find agent Simmons and she's going to be OK." he assured him firmly. "I know you must be chomping at the bit right now but I promise you you'll see her soon."

"She's OK," Leo repeated, trying to sound confident and Mr. Stevens gave him a grin.

"That's the spirit," he cheered. "Now watch what I do."

Leo managed a small smile back at him before Mr. Stevens undid his buckle and dropped towards the ground.

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><p>Thank you so much for all the likes, reads, reviews and follows. You guys are super expressions of amazingness.<p>

The Fringe reference is the Fetus apple. It is one of the glyphys they show before commercials and represents a letter of the alphabet. At the end of the episode all they glyphs spell a word. Cool eh?

Hoban Stevens takes his first name from Hoban Washburne (Wash) from firefly who is also a pilot and... the other thing sadly. :( Ally Washburne takes her last name from Wash.

The stuff about MOFs and hydrogen storage is from wikipedia. I don't entirely understand it to be honest (I had trouble with the difference between energy content and specific energy content, though I think specific refers to the energy content under specific conditions?) Anyway don't rely on a correct interpretation of what they are from me haha. I just googled chemistry news.

I don't remember the episode they used the odorless scent but it is from the show. :)


	3. Chapter 3

"We should get going," she told him finally, forcing herself to pull away from the comfort of his arms. "We need to find water and shelter, start a fire, find a way out of here." She listed off the tasks she knew they needed to start on if they were going to survive. It was already mid afternoon and she suspected night would creep up on them quickly. It was earlier in the summer with warm days but a lingering chill once the sun set and she didn't want them freezing when it did.

Leo stared at the ground numbly. "I hate just leaving him in there," he mumbled.

Neither did she but they didn't have much of a choice, they could be killed trying to climb down to him.

She gently lifted Leo's chin with the tips of her fingers so he was facing her. His eyes were still bright from his tears and his lip trembled.

"There's nothing we can do for him," she reminded him. "Except tell his story, so his family will know how brave he was. But we need to get out of here first. Can you help me with that?"

He sniffed but his mouth set in a hard line and his eyes narrowed determinedly. "I can," he promised.

She smiled at him, her love and her trusted partner, and carefully took his head in her hands, pulling it towards her to kiss the top of it before she stood and helped him to his feet, holding onto both his hands for a moment longer before releasing one to briefly touch the side of his face and then lead him away from the pit.

/-/-/

"I can make a fire using some sticks and my shoelace," Leo offered. He'd never actually done it before but he'd seen people do it in survival shows and he figured if he could build a small army of spy drones (with Jemma's help of course) a fire shouldn't be too difficult. Probably. He had to at least try anyway because he wasn't keen on freezing when it got dark.

"Or I could lend you this," Jemma suggested, holding up her small magnification lens which hung around her neck on a grey lanyard. She'd brought it with her for the conference.

'You never know when you're going to want a closer look,' he recalled her bright explanation.

"Ah, right. Good idea," he praised, slightly disappointed despite his relief at their increased chances of not freezing their butts off... or worse. "I could have done it though-" he let her know.

"I know you could have," she assured him, smiling affectionately at him as she set down some of the wood and dried pine needles they'd gathered in their makeshift fire pit.

"With the right materials," he continued, overlapping her a little. "I'm good at building things."

"Yes you are," she agreed warmly. "We would have had a fire either way, this is just easier." She declared, nodding.

"Yeah, it'll take up less of our energy," he concurred, returning her affection in a fond smile.

Of course she knew he could do it. Jemma had complete faith in him and he'd never let her down.

They fiddled with the lens, concentrating sunlight onto a bundle of dry grass.

"I see smoke," he exclaimed, bouncing a bit and beaming at her.

"Quick, put it into the pit," she instructed excitedly.

Soon they had a small fire going and Jemma did a little fist pump as they cheered before clapping their hands together in a high five.

/-/-/

The sun was setting as they finished teasing the small fire into a burning pile of branches.

Next they needed to obtain drinkable water. Jemma was already feeling the effects of dehydration from the warm hours of collecting wood and she suspected Leo was as well.

Having nothing to store it in, they had no way to boil the water from the stream so she began to dig a hole beside it which soon filled up with murky water.

"Is that safe to drink?" He wondered, frowning at it, she guessed because of the colour.

"It's safer than the stream," she told him, frustrated with her uncertainty.

Why had all her plans up to this point been so risky? Leap across the pit Leo, you'll probably make it. Drink this water with me, it probably won't poison us. "The soil will filter out many of the possible contaminants. Except if there are heavy metals, or anything that can get through," she warned.

"We don't really have any other options though do we?" He guessed.

"No," she sighed.

"Well then let's give it a try shall we?" He smiled, scooping some into his hands and taking a sip. "Mmm, earthy. Jemma you make the best mud water," he kidded and she smiled back.

"I'll give you the recipe," she teased, scooping up some for herself.

It didn't taste all that good but it quenched her thirst and they both took a few more handfuls before she stopped them.

"We'd better wait and see what happens in the next few hours before we drink too much of it," she decided. "Just in case."

He nodded in agreement.

The next day they planned on retrieving her parachute to construct a shelter from. It was getting too dark to do it that day and there wasn't much they could do as the evening turned to twilight so they huddled together around their fire, discussing their options.

"Whoever set the trap might come back," she pointed out, attempting to sound enthusiastic about that idea.

Leo leaned against her, held safely in her arms as he wove small twigs together into a bowl, she suspected mostly just to keep his hands busy and his mind from revisiting the awful events of earlier.

"I'm not so sure I want us to run into whoever set up that damn hell hole," he muttered darkly.

"If it means getting out of here-" she began.

"I guess it could be worth it," he finished grudgingly.

"Or someone in a plane could see our fire," she thought out loud. "We'll have to wave around a stick if we spot one," she announced.

"And the others will be looking for us," he put in more cheerfully.

"Oh, yes they will definitely be looking for us," she agreed. "I hope they aren't too worried," She fretted. "We're fine."

"Relatively speaking," he added jokingly. "I wouldn't mind them worrying a little bit. We are stranded in the woods, they had better start searching for us before we have to eat crickets or something else awful and unpleasant."

She chuckled at him and kissed the top of his head. "Maybe we'll like the crickets," she teased.

"Hmmm," he answered doubtfully. "If you do I know a place in Michigan where they dip them in chocolate."

"You can get me that for valentine's Day," she laughed.

"OK," he said lifting his face to kiss her before rising to his feet with his bowl.

He'd stuck one of the twigs straight up from the middle so it looked like a sailboat with the sails down.

"Are you planning on sailing that down the stream?" She wondered, amused.

"Yes," he replied seriously. "For Mr. Stevens. It's not much but.. we'll it's something."

"Can I help?" she inquired, wanting, like him, to put forth some sort of gesture of respect, of goodbye even if they had known him only briefly.

"Come help me put some pine needles and some grass in so it'll burn," he requested, extending a hand to help her up.

Together they prepared the tiny vessel, adding flowers and leaves in addition to the burnables.

They then set it down on the stream and lit it together with a stick before pushing it away and watching the flames consume it as it floated over the dark water.

The pair stood close together, holding hands while it sank and the fire went out, taking the light with it.

"Thank you," Leo whispered.

"Thank you," she echoed before they turned away and returned to their camp.

/-/-/

They played Ro Sham Bo to decide who would stay up first to watch for planes and wild animals, as well as keep the fire fed.

She landed on rock and he threw out paper, covering her soft hand gently with his.

"I guess that means I'll stay up first," Jemma remarked.

"I'm not sure I could sleep," he protested, even though he was exhausted and his body ached. He was afraid of what he would see when he closed his eyes.

"Of course you can," she assured him confidently. "I know it isn't the most comfortable place in the world but-"

"That isn't why," he told her and she sighed before placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Just lay down and close your eyes," she instructed softly. "I know it's hard but you need to keep your strength up and staying awake all night isn't going to help with that. I'll wake you in a few hours for your turn. Try to rest for me in the meantime OK?"

"OK," he agreed, getting as comfortable as he could on the hard ground and giving her a smile before closing his eyes.

Something soft and warm was tucked around him and he opened them again to see she had taken off her sweater to use as a blanket for him.

"I'm fine," she insisted as he opened his mouth to object. "We have the fire. Besides I wouldn't want to get too warm and nod off. Imagine how upset we'd be if we missed signaling an airplane."

"Thank you," he told her with a yawn. "You take it back if you get cold though," he advised firmly. "I won't stand for being wrapped up all warm while you're shivering away."

"Of course ," she agreed, nodding and he closed his eyes again.

But he couldn't sleep, he kept seeing Mr. Stevens falling into that pit, being impaled on those spikes...

"It's too bad we missed the cheese ball at the evening buffet," he mumbled, attempting to fill his head with less terrifying thoughts. Being hungry was easier than being scared out of your mind. "It's always so good with those tiny little crackers-"

"Leo," she chided.

"-ah, forget the crackers," he went on. "I'm so hungry I'd just take the whole damn thing and eat it like an apple. I'd share with you of course," he added, opening his eyes to see her gazing at him with a mixture of annoyance and affection. "I'd always share with you."

"You need to sleep," she repeated adamantly. "As sweet of you as it is to share your imaginary cheese ball-"

"Well I can't just leave you hungry," He reasoned, not wanting to end the distraction. "I'd be there, all full but not happy because your poor stomach would be grumbling away. 'Fitz, why did you eat all the cheese ball?'" He voiced her stomach in a high pitched voice. "'It was nice and big-'"

"Shush," she giggled, lifting his head onto her lap which was much softer than the hard ground. "How about I tell you a story," she decided. "You just close your eyes and let me be the one chattering away."

"OK," he agreed, snuggling against her and feeling safer. That could work, he could think about what she was saying rather than about that horrible pit. "If you don't mind."

She kissed him gently. "It's no problem at all," she replied. "I like making up stories."

She spun a tale about a black and white cow named Gene who managed to get herself up onto a giant hammock which swung soothingly in a cool summer breeze.

"And Gene thought, 'what a wonderful place this is to sleep,'" she narrated softly, running two fingers down the middle of his forehead to the tip of his nose.

She repeated the motion while she whispered her story, and he felt himself drifting off, secure in the warm cocoon she was weaving for him.

/-/-/

"Jemma," Leo was nudging her out of sleep and the fear in his voice caused her to spring up into a sitting position. It was near dawn and the sky was turning a milky blue through the trees.

"There's something out there," he whispered and she heard the a snap of a twig just before a metal shaft whizzed by their faces, embedding itself into a nearby tree.

"Hey! Stop!" Leo called but another one flew towards them, sinking into the ground behind them with a thump.

Someone was shooting at them.

Grabbing her hand Leo pulled her to her feet, herding her ahead of him, and together the dashed away through the trees.

She tripped over a cable and crashed to the ground as something came down around her with a clang like hitting a chain linked fence.

Leo cried out and she lifted her head to see she was trapped in a short, long cage of metal wires. The wires crackled and blue sparks shot across them, telling her they were charged with electricity.

She let out a squeak of terror, attempting to make herself as flat as possible to get away from it.

"Can't see a bloody thing," Leo was muttering behind her, it sounded like he was tampering with part of the trap.

"D-don't touch it," she warned shakily. How far behind them was the shooter? Did he have time to get her out? "They're coming," she reminded him, her voice high and frightened.

"It's OK," he assured her soothingly. "I'm going to get you out of this. I'll just twist this..." there was a small zap. "Ouch," he yelped.

"What happened?" She worried, hoping he hadn't been hurt.

She tried move so she could see him, see if she could help, but the wires were so close she could barely lift her head.

"Just a little shock," he informed her calmly "Nothing you need to worry about. Hold still, I've almost got it."

The trap sprung back off of her and he leapt to pull her away from under it.

"Are you OK?" He demanded, checking her all over anxiously.

"Yes, I'm fine," said quickly, standing and taking his hand before they resumed running, weary now of where they stepped.

They ran until they were both out of breath and her legs felt like they were made of wood. Then they hid, wedging themselves between a fallen tree and a bush and held each other, trembling again and too terrified to speak, until the sun rose into the sky.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>Thanks for all the likes, reviews, reads and follows! I would share a cheese ball with all of you.<p>

The survival ideas are from watching Naked and Afraid (it's not what you think!) with my aunt and uncle. It's a show about people surviving with no clothes in the wild for 21 days. Interesting information but I usually don't watch things like that because they stress me out haha.

The burning boat is a thing I keep seeing on TV funerals and I think in Thor 2. I don't know where it comes from (maybe it's Norse like Thor?). I didn't have Google when I was writing this so I couldn't look it up.

Also the starting a fire with the shoelace and sticks using friction looks super hard. On the show we watched the survival guy was having trouble with it even though he had done it before so I am not sure if Fitz would have been able to. Hence the lens. I actually have one like the one in this story I got when I was working at a Herbarium (like a giant library of dried plants, very useful and cool). I figured it was something Simmons would have, maybe to get a closer look at some alien fungus or something.

The Fringe reference is the cow named Gene, she is Walter's pet cow and it is often said that she has kind eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Jemma was still quivering, her face buried into Leo's shoulder, as the world lit up around them. He held her tightly and she could feel him shaking against her as he whispered, barely making a sound.

"We can't stay hiding forever," he said.

"I know," she replied very quietly, pulling her face away and seeing her own terror reflected in his.

Neither of them moved.

"What are we going to do?" "Why the hell are they trying to kill us?" They wondered panicked.

"I don't know," they answered together, each at a loss.

She hid her face against him again, taking comfort in his warmth and the feel of his breathing even if it came in short, frightened gasps.

What was happening? Why would whoever it was attack them? Had they set the traps?

That net hadn't been a regular hunters trap, Jemma didn't have any experience trapping wild animals but she was sure that the electrified wire was not standard gear. And that pit...

They were far from any type of town or city, she had reasoned that the trap was set by a hunter not expecting anyone to be wandering around but that attack had been deliberate. Leo had called out in his very human voice and the aggressor had continued to shoot at them.

"Do you think they're still searching for us?" He asked in a low whisper.

"I don't know," she answered again, a horrible hopelessness creeping into her.

They were so helpless. They had nothing, no place to hide, no place to run to and no way of defending themselves. Her mouth was dry, her stomach empty and she knew that even if whoever was chasing them didn't catch them they could starve to death running or catch hypothermia in the night because they couldn't build a fire. She couldn't see a way out, she couldn't think of a way for them to come out of this.

"We could- we... We could... Jemma what are we going to do?" He squeaked and the fear in his voice lit something inside of her, a burning need to protect him, a fierce determination to chase away anything that would hurt him.

He didn't want to die out there and neither did she. She wanted to go home and share that stupid cheese ball she was craving with him and beat her friends at Scrabble (or lose, whatever, so long as they were both home again). She wanted them both safe once more.

They were at a major disadvantage but they were FitzSimmons and they were not helpless. Maybe they would die out there but it wasn't going to be without a fight.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But we're going to figure something out," she resolved, sitting up and meeting his gaze.

Her confidence seemed to strengthen him and he gave a short nod. "Yeah, yeah we are."

She gave him a small smile and he returned it, filling her with courage, before kissing her forehead.

"We should go find the crash site," he suggested quietly. "There may be something left of the plane we could use to call for help or it may have some sort of beacon."

"And the further we get from here the better," she added.

"Agreed," he replied grimly.

"We should get going then," she declared.

"Yeah," he conceded, taking a breath but instead he pulled her into his arms once more and held her close to him.

She returned the embrace, soaking him in and hoping this wouldn't be the last time she felt his arms around her.

"We're going to be OK," he insisted.

"Yes we are," she asserted, even though she wasn't sure they were.

Side by side they popped their heads over the log and peered around. The woods seemed empty but that didn't necessarily mean anything if their attacker was stealthy and in hiding.

"I'll go first and-" he began, rising.

"You will not," she hissed, grabbing his shirt and pulling him back down.

"What if they're waiting for us?" He demanded.

"Then we'll come up with something better than that," she countered firmly, refusing to let him shelter her. "We both go. They can only shoot one of us at a time anyway."

"Unless there's more than one of them," he pointed out.

"Right," she mumbled, feeling a jolt of fear.

They didn't have much of a choice however so, very slowly, they crept out of their hiding place and into the open.

Something moved and they both let out a yelp, as she tackled Leo to the ground and threw herself on top of him.

"Leave us alone!" She screamed, closing her eyes and waiting for a metal shaft to stick into her back. "Or we'll call for back up! We can do that! We have a phone, umm... a satellite phone."

Nothing was happening.

"Jemma it was a bird," Leo told her soothingly. "There's no one here."

Not yet but their shouting may have alerted whoever it was to where they were.

"I'm sorry," She gasped, far quieter as she let him up. "Oh no! Did I give us away?"

"We both may have attracted some attention," he confessed. "At least now we know you can duck quickly." He joked, attempting to lighten their anxiety and she gave him a nervous smile.

"We should get out of here," she fretted.

"Yeah," he agreed.

They found a long stick and used it to prod the ground in front of them as they put some distance between themselves and their compromised position, keeping close beside each other and flinching at every crick and creak.

Once they reached what they believed was a far enough away the pair stopped for a rest. They were both sweaty and thirsty again but they couldn't risk going back to the stream. Whoever was after them could be waiting there or could have set more traps.

"We need to figure out where we're going," Leo decided and she nodded to show her agreement.

"If we could find a tall enough tree we could get a look around," he thought out loud. "I think I could recognize the place where the plane crashed, give us a direction to go in."

"I'll come up with you," she offered even though the idea made her queasy.

Despite living on an airplane, she really didn't like high places. High open places specifically, like trees. "It'll be better if we put our heads together, we always work best as a team anyway."

"OK," he answered, touching her shoulder comfortingly and she knew he remembered that she didn't like climbing.

They searched for a suitable tree, tall and easily climbable and found a large pine with thick, numerous branches. She let Leo go up first before lifting herself after him.

"Be carefully," she warned as he climbed to a worrying height above her.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "We're not high enough yet, I can't see anything."

He was right, she wasn't too far below him and she could barely see above the trees so she gulped and tried not to think about falling as she reached for the next branch.

When they finally stopped and peered around she was both dazzled and distressed by the view.

It was gorgeous with a short mountain range not so far away and a sparkling, winding river between them and it. However they were also dangerously high up and there was wilderness as far as either of them could see.

"Over there," she said, pointing to a familiar mountain side.

"I see it," he answered. "That's where we need to go."

So they began a slow, difficult trek, towards the mountainside. It hadn't seemed too far from where they'd spotted it but between the thick woods and the fact that they had to keep climbing trees to reorient themselves and their need to feel the ground in front of them before going forward it took them until the afternoon just to reach the river.

By that time they were sore and hungry and really, really thirsty. She'd been listing off the chemicals formula of a root beer float in her head for the past hour as if she could magically make one appear that way. If only.

Her feet were throbbing and she noticed Leo winced whenever he gripped the stick the wrong way.

"Let me see that," she requested, holding out her hand for his.

"I'm fine," he protested. "It was just a little shock." However he complied and put his hand in hers.

It actually wasn't so bad but the skin was still shiny and red where he had been burned and it must have been hurting him.

"We should soak that in the river," she advised, frowning sympathetically at his injury.

"There's no time for that," he dismissed, grumpy because they were both hungry and tired. "Stop worrying about me."

"Just a quick soak," she insisted. "We need to get water anyway, I'll dig the hole again and you cool that off, it may bring down the swelling."

"Fine," he gave in, heading carefully towards the river side and dipping in his hand while she dug into the sandy shore.

He closed his eyes as the water washed over his injury. "That does feel better," he admitted, opening them and grinning at her.

"Oh does it?" She teased. "What happened to 'I ain't got time to bleed,'" she quoted Predator in a tough guy voice and he flicked some water at her playfully with his good hand.

She scrunched her nose at him and he narrowed his eyes affectionately before they turned back to what they were doing and she felt small flickers of happiness dancing in her chest, forgetting for a brief moment her fear and her weariness.

However the moment quickly passed and the fear returned in a cold jolt down her spine as she saw the water behind him swell up, releasing a large, clear plastic ball with a splash.

The ball rolled toward him across the surface and she shouted his name before lunging forward to pull him away from it.

"What- ahhhhh!" He screamed, scrambling to his feet.

They dashed away into the woods, hoping the ball would catch on something but it didn't.

It was fast, rolling towards them, running over small trees and shrubs like a giant evil hamster ball.

Her foot caught in the root of a tree and she fell to the ground, turning over and trying to get back on her feet.

"Jemma no!" Leo screeched, panic and desperation clear in his voice, and she knew he coming back for her but it was too late.

It was so close that there was nothing either of them could do so she shut her eyes and held her arms in front of her, bracing for whatever horrible thing was going to happen.

But nothing happened, not to her.

It rolled passed her and collided with Leo, enveloping him inside of it before she heard it seal with a hiss.

"No!" She cried, pounding on it with her fists before searching around madly for a rock to smash it with.

It had stopped rolling and he stood shakily.

"I'm OK," he assured her, testing the walls with his hands. "I've just been... er, hamstered."

"Don't worry, I'll get you out." she promised, glad he was calm and on his feet. She still needed to free him before he ran out of air though.

As she looked around for a rock there was another hiss and the ball began filling with wispy grey smoke.

"Ummm... Jemma?" He gulped, eyes widening as he pulled his shirt over his mouth.

She found a rock around the size of a lemon under the carpet of leaves and hurried over to him.

"I know," she replied hitting the side of the sphere as hard as she could until it began to crack. "Try not to breathe, I'm coming." She demanded but he was already sliding to the ground coughing, his head dropping.

"I feel strange," he mumbled and he coughed again.

"Hold on," she pleaded, bringing the rock down with as much force as she could muster and finally shattering the hard plastic.

He was barely moving as she dragged him out of it and he stared past her when she lifted him into a sitting position.

"No, no wake up," she ordered, shaking him and hitting his cheeks.

He was breathing normally, however when his eyes took in her face they were blank and he remained expressionless.

"Sweetheart please we have to go," she begged. "Get up."

She tried to help him stand but his legs crumpled underneath him and they both fell back down.

He didn't seem to care what was happening and she wasn't sure if he was paralyzed or zoned out or both.

"Wake up," she sobbed, not knowing what to do.

They had almost nothing, next to no way to figure out what was wrong with him or get him better and she didn't know if whatever was affecting him would wear off or if it was permanent.

She pulled him as far away as she could and tried to hide them in the thick bush as she looked him over.

He was awake, but he wasn't responding even when she pinched his arm he simply continued to stare off into space. His pupils were dilated however he was blinking every now and then and holding himself up with a bit of assistance from her.

"Leo?" She whispered but if he heard her or recognized her it didn't show. "It's going to be alright," she vowed. "I'll fix this, you'll be OK."

Someone was coming, footsteps crunched the leaves.

Her heart rate sped up and she tried not to breathe too loudly as she took him in into her arms and attempted to make them both as small as possible, as hidden as they could be.

It wasn't a human. She recognized it from pictures and videos. Anyone would, any Shield agent would have to.

It was a Chitauri.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>Thanks so much for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads. :) You are all too awesome to bleed.<p>

The Fringe reference is the listing off the chemical formula of a root beer float. Walter can and does do this (sometimes when people are trying to sleep.) He and Simmons would totally be friends and play with giant flu viruses while Peter and Fitz bond over their mutual disgust of the creatures haha.

The main inspiration for this story is Predator and Predators. Admittedly I haven't seen the whole thing of the first one (just parts of it like, "I don't have time to bleed"). The predator in the movie is not a Chitauri and doesn't set traps but I thought traps would be more fun to write especially in a FitzSimmons fic. And reading the description of the Chitauri they actually seemed similar.

Of course I have taken inspiration from other places like The Hunger Games


	5. Chapter 5

Leo didn't know what was happening at first. The world was slowly coming back into focus but the edges of his vision were still blurred.

Jemma was holding him up and he could feel her terrified breathing against him. It kept him silent but he wanted her to know he was waking up so he clumsily moved his hand, which seemed incredibly heavy and wasn't cooperating at all, towards hers.

She let out a low gasp of surprise when his skin brushed hers and glanced briefly at him, clearly relieved as she put a finger to her lips for silence before turning back to what she'd been staring at.

He followed her gaze and saw the Chitauri, it's attention focused on a small device which looked like some sort of alien tablet. It hadn't found them but it was so close, too close.

He should have been frightened by that but he was disturbingly calm.

On the other hand Jemma, he could tell, was scared out of her mind so he squeezed her hand in a weak attempt at comfort and she squeezed back, eyes on the Chitauri.

She had such a pretty face, Jemma not the Chitauri. There must have been something really wrong with him because he had stopped thinking about the alien creature hunting them and was shooting back and forth between thinking about Jemma and pretzels and nanotubes.

The Chitauri must have been leaving because she relaxed and turned back to him, propping him up in front of her and looking him up and down.

"Leo?" She whispered.

"That is my name," he replied.

Who else did she think it was going to be?

"Oh thank goodness," she sighed wrapping him in a tight embrace. "You scared me you big hamster." She kidded as he managed to get his arms around her to return it.

He laughed a little too hard at her joke and she pulled back, eyebrows raised as she looked him over again.

"Are you alright?" She worried.

"I don't know smarty biochem pants," he giggled. "You tell me."

She wasn't laughing at his joke, maybe it hadn't been funny enough.

"I mean, your smarter than... Than bendy straws," he tried again, grinning.

However, if anything she looked even more alarmed.

"Bendy straws were a pretty good idea," he defended good-naturedly. "C'mon that little accordion pattern at the top... revolutionary," he pressed. "Makes chocolate milkshakes easier to blow bubbles in."

She still wasn't getting it. Poor Jemma.

"I'm saying you're better than chocolate milkshakes," he explained kindly.

She gave him a small, unconvincing smile and stroked the side of his face. "So are you," she said softly, her eyes bright. "Do you think you can stand up?"

"OK," he agreed, struggling to rise. "Uh oh, wobbly legs," he chuckled.

"That's alright," she assured him, holding him up until he managed to gain his balance.

"Thanks," he smiled.

They hobbled together back towards the river.

"It's risky but we really need water," she decided and he realized he was very thirsty.

"OK," he agreed cheerfully. "Better to get skewered than die of dehydration."

"Better neither," she told him and he laughed again earning himself another distressed look from her.

She led him cautiously towards the river and sat him down carefully before digging into the wet sand.

He played with the sand she had dug up but she told him to stop.

"You're getting it into our water," explained patiently.

"Oh, I'll stop then," he complied easily.

She made him drink first, cupping the water into her hands and lifting it to his mouth when he was too clumsy to do it himself.

"Thank you you lovely milkshake," he said gratefully.

"You're welcome," she mumbled and even though he could tell she was upset he wasn't upset himself. He couldn't be.

She drank a few mouthfuls and then splashed some water in his face from the river.

It was surprising, cold and unpleasant and he recoiled, shaking his head.

"What did you do that for?!" He demanded.

"Because you need to snap out of it," she answered simply.

"Well you could have-" but he stopped, realizing he was finally rid of the gripping calm. "Oh... Uh... Thanks..."

She gave him a wide, real smile and kissed his head. "I'm glad you're alright," she told him warmly. "Help me dig deeper, we need to hydrate."

He didn't even taste the sand now, he just felt the cold water filling him up and quenching his thirst.

"Why did the trap roll passed me?" She wondered suddenly as she watched him drink. "It was as if... it seemed like it was..."

"As if it was chasing me," he finished and she frowned.

They were silent for a moment as they pondered that.

"It was that shock you got-" she guessed.

"When I was getting you out of the other trap-" he continued.

"It is a Chitauri," she went on. "If a virus can spread through a spark then-"

"So can tiny tracking devices." He concluded and they both looked grim. "But then why didn't it know where we were?" He asked, confused.

"It did," she realized, letting out a shaky breath. "It stared right at us but it left us alone. It's as if it's-"

"It's toying with us," he stated darkly. "It wants to catch us in a trap. And it's going to if it knows where we are."

She pressed her face into her hands and let out a groan. He rubbed her shoulder, trying not to let his fear overwhelm him, trying not to think of what it was going to do to them.

When she lifted her head again, however, her expression was determined. "That damn thing isn't going to get us," she declared fiercely. "Not without a fight."

"It thinks it can play with us, we'll play right back," he agreed, taking courage from her strength.

She smiled at him as she held out her fist and he placed his hand over it.

"It has no idea who it's dealing with," she said, almost smugly and he grinned at her.

When they'd drunk as much as they could they departed, in search of a safe place to cross the river, get to the plane and get the hell out of there.

/-/-/

They trekked through the woods a short distance from the shoreline, not wanting to risk setting off more traps by the river as they searched for a place to cross.

Leo was feeling a lot better. Well, maybe better wasn't the right word. Scared, hungry, grumpy and sore were far better choices but Jemma said that meant he had probably snapped out of it, that it had been some sort of anesthetic he had woken up from. It didn't seem so bad now that he felt horrible again but she had been so happy to have him back to normal and that calm that had overtaken him was its own kind of terrible so he was glad it was gone.

Not gone entirely gone though, he was still a little wobbly and he stumbled now on the loose soil. Jemma tried to catch him but the ground beneath him crumbled away and they slid together down a small ravine landing with a splash in the muddy bottom.

"I told you to watch where you stepped," she scolded when they both sat up, coated in mud. "Now look, we're soaked!"

"You're not actually blaming me for this are you?" He shot back, his empty stomach making him irritable. "Because in case you've forgotten I'm still recovering from being gassed by a bloody insane alien who wants to kill us in horrible, creative ways."

"That doesn't mean you need to walk right next to the edge," she countered in a harsh whisper.

"Oh, well I'm sorry for not wanting to make as much noise as you are cracking all those branches further away." He hissed. "Sorry for trying to be quiet."

She scoffed. "I was barely making any noise. And don't you dare accuse me of being the one to draw attention They probably heard that shout you let out as we fell back home on the Bus." She argued, turning red but not mentioning the fact that he was probably filled with trackers anyway. What did it really matter if he had shouted? It was going to kill them whatever they did.

"I'm not allowed to be scared now?" He demanded. "I'm not allowed a small moment of fear when we're being hunted by that insane monster, filled with water which may or may not poison us and too weak to do anything because we haven't eaten in almost two days?" His eyes were hot as he finished and he saw hers brighten and her expression change from angry to miserable as the tears leaked onto her cheeks and cut at his heart. They were both hurting, they should be supporting each other not fighting.

"I'm sorry," he murmured and she leaned forward to embrace him, smudging their muddy bodies together as they cried.

"Me too," she said shakily and he wrapped his arms around her both horrified and comforted to have her there with him. "I can't do it," she told him and the misery in her voice was painful. "We aren't built for this, it's too hard and e-everything h-hurts and I'm so hungry." She let out a sob and buried her face into the side of his neck. "Why is it doing this to us?"

"Why would anyone want to kill a pair of scientists?" He added wretchedly. "What did we ever do?"

She sniffed. " Well, I did shoot agent Sitwell in the chest."

It took him a moment to realize she was joking, then a small chuckle escaped him and she laughed opening a damn inside him letting out his own laughter.

"I did kick a guys head in once," he admitted and she laughed again.

"You're never going to let me forget that are you?" She mused.

"No," he giggled.

"I once took a grape out of the bag at the grocery store to try it... and then didn't buy the bag." She announced.

"Jemma!" He gasped in mock horror and she giggled with him. "Well... I... Once I turned our microwave into an antigravity box and didn't tell anyone." He confessed.

"We knew, we all knew," she told him, amused.

"I guess it was kinda obvious it was me..." he recalled and she pulled away, eyes sparkling before kissing him.

"A little," she chuckled.

He beamed at her and tried to wipe some of the dirt off of her face but ended up smearing more on from his hand.

"Oh... Sorry," he apologized, attempting to fix it.

He was only making it worse but she was laughing at him, her whole body shaking with it, so he made her a nose and whiskers before letting her paint his face.

It felt nice, cool and soothing on his sunburned skin.

"This may actually protect our skin from the sun," she realized, forgetting her pattern and spreading it all over his cheeks.

There was a sudden snap and they both jumped.

The snap was followed by the violent rustling of leaves and loud desperate thumping.

Cautiously they went to investigate and found a rabbit trapped in a snare. Leo shuddered as he realized it had been a snare meant for them and felt a wave of pity for the struggling creature. He was also incredibly hungry however and exchanged an understanding glance with Jemma.

"I'll do it," she offered because she had killed animals before in the lab. She knew how to do it so they wouldn't suffer.

/-/-/

They made a fire because there was no point in them hiding and feasted on the rabbit. It was getting later so they decided to take a break for the evening to get back their strength.

Cheered by their full stomachs they were both smiley and playful. They had thumb wars and played eye spy and gave each other plenty of kisses and had a Ro Sham Bo tournament which ended in him tickling her until her eyes watered.

They made each other smile and let the knots inside them uncoil, trying to forget their ever decreasing chances of survival. Leo wondered if Jemma thought this might be their final night, alive and together because she took care to let him know how much she loved him and he did the same.

"You really are more amazing than bendy straws," he insisted as she leaned back against him after refueling the fire.

"And you're more fascinating than slime mold," she returned affectionately, giving him a kiss.

The stars came out and they tried to guess which ones had planets with life orbiting around them, making up names for the imaginary planets that did.

He lost at Ro Sham Bo and was the first to keep watch so he wrapped her up in his sweater and let her rest her head on his lap, singing lullabies to her until she was sleepy.

"Goodnight sweetheart," she mumbled fondly. "Wake me in a few hours."

"I will," he lied kissing her softly and letting his face rest against hers briefly, soaking her in. "Goodnight my love."

He stroked her muddy hair lovingly until her soft, even breathing told him she was asleep.

Carefully, he lay her head down onto the ground being sure not to wake her as he did so.

For a minute he watched her precious sleeping face, feeling his heart swell with love that reached the tips of his toes.

He didn't want to leave her there, alone, unprotected and vulnerable but he couldn't stay. It wasn't fair for him to stay.

Usually they were stronger together but now he was a big flashing target giving her away.

Her courage and her kind heart along with the love he knew she felt for him were stopping her from seeing it however the truth was she had a better chance of making it to the plane without him and that could save both of them.

So, even though it went against everything inside of him to leave her there, he had to give her a chance, he had to trust that she would be able to make it on her own because if he stayed they would both be caught.

Ignoring the thorn in his heart and the voice in the back of his head that worried she wouldn't understand, he covered her gently in leaves to hide her, leaving his sweater on her because now she would need to hide and would be unable to make a fire to warm herself.

Then he picked up a twig to write his note in the soil.

'Get to the plane, call for help. I'll lead it away."

His eyes burned, he was scared. He was scared this was the wrong thing to do, that he'd never see her again. That he would die painfully and alone.

He gazed back at her and his resolve returned. No, no he had to do this, it was her best chance.

'Be safe. I love you,' he finished.

Then he rose up, wiped his eyes, put out the fire with dirt and quietly walked away.

When he was far enough he broke into a run, catching on branches and stubbing his toe a couple of times before he thought he'd put enough distance between them and he stopped because the night was no time to travel.

He was crying and the thorn in his heart was throbbing as he curled himself up in a group of bushes, hiding to trick himself into feeling safer but knowing it could find him anyway.

At least now it would be harder for it to find her. That thought gave him comfort as he buried his teary face into his knees and tried to sleep.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>Thanks so much for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads. :) You are awesome like bendy straws<p>

The Fringe reference is who would anyone want to kill a scientist, what did we ever do? It was Walter who said it of course to which I am pretty sure Peter responded, "seriously?"

The idea of the Chitauri trackers from the sparks came from notapepper's review :).

I will also be changing the genre thanks to a helpful hint from dearxoxo. :)

Also the bendy straw and the milkshake are a reference to the fact that the guy who invented the bendy straw did so because his daughter was having trouble drinking her milkshake with a regular straw. So cute.


	6. Chapter 6

Jemma awoke, cold, beneath a pile of leaves. It was dawn, the sky a pale, watery blue, and it was freezing.

The fire was out and she wondered if Leo had fallen asleep. It would explain why he hadn't woken her for her watch.

Why was she covered in leaves? Even her face had a small, dew-soaked pile on it.

She rose, shaking the foliage off and realized his sweater had still been covering her like a blanket.

"Leo?" She called quietly, searching around for his sleeping form. If he was asleep in only his shirt he'd be a Popsicle, she needed to warm him up before he got sick.

Their camp wasn't large and she quickly realized he wasn't there. Panicking, she noticed the fire had been put out, not burnt out. It had handfuls of dirt on it which would have suffocated the flames.

Her panic escalated into terror, imagining horrible scenarios in which he was taken or killed, and she approached it cautiously glimpsing the note carved into the soil beside it.

"Oh Leo," she whispered, dread and fear making her insides twist.

She felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her.

That brave, noble idiot. What in the world was he thinking?

'I'll lead it away.'

She didn't want him to do this. How was it better for him to be out there, on his own, in the cold without even a sweater? He was probably planning on building a fire.

'Good luck without my lens you moron,' she thought furiously.

It'd probably be really hard for him to make a fire without it. He'd probably be really cold now with no fire and no sweater. Cold and alone and trailed by that monster. The image brought tears to her eyes.

Had he even thought any of this through? How was this better for anyone? How was it better for her to be alone?

'Be safe.'

She didn't feel safe. He carried part of her soul with him and it tethered their fates together. If he died he would take a piece of her with him.

Besides that they were stronger as a team, she could do things he couldn't and he could do things she couldn't. Like fix the radio on the plane if it was broken.

Had he stopped for a minute to think about that before starting on this stupid, awful, reckless plan? Of course not.

'Why would you do this to me?' She wondered.

'I love you.'

Her chest felt tight and her vision blurred as she let out a sob and hugged his dirty, smelly sweater to her chest like a security blanket.

"I love you too stupid," she murmured even though he wasn't there to hear her. Even though he had left her there to lead the Chitauri away in his dumb, unasked for, thickheaded distraction.

She was so angry with him, so worried about him.

He wouldn't have left if he hadn't thought she could do it, get to the plane, call for help, but had he considered how much she didn't want to? Not without him.

It wasn't just not wanting to like how sometimes you didn't want to wait in line at the store or get a shot because it hurt. It was I'd rather swallow a hive of bees or get caught and skinned by an insane alien hunter.

She should go find him, give him back his sweater and tell him he was an imbecile for leaving and that she loved him. That she wasn't going let him get himself killed, they were in this together whatever happened.

But she had no idea where he had gone. He'd told her to go to the plane, to call for help and maybe that was what she needed to do now. As much as she wanted to look for him, and she wanted to so badly it was driving her insane, she knew they would both have a better chance of surviving if they could contact someone to help them.

He had forced her into this, into following his idiotic, overly valiant plan and she was furious with him for it.

She pulled her own sweater off over her head and slipped into his, tying hers around her waist. It reminded her of him, made her brave despite the tear he'd left in her heart.

Then she gazed at the note once more, running her finger along the final words which melted away her anger like the spring sunshine did to ice on a river.

He had done this for her and not because he thought she was weak but because he thought she was strong. Strong enough to make it without him. He believed in her and he'd loved her enough to let her go, give her the chance he didn't think he had himself and risk dying alone and afraid. She only wished he had realized that she'd rather die herself than let that happen.

He probably had though, it was the reason he had left after she'd fallen asleep, waited until she wouldn't be able to stop him.

Feeling as if a chunk had been ripped out of her she rose to her feet and forced herself to leave, headed for the plane to get help as quickly as she could. To save Leo.

/-/-/

She had barely left their camp when she spotted ragged, ripped cloth tied around a tree branch.

It was a sleeve from Leo's shirt she realized with a jolt. Torn and dirty and covered in wet blood.

Why was it bloody and tied around a tree? Had he been hurt? Why leave his sleeve behind?

She searched around to see the ground before her was slick and shiny with bright red blood and let out a gasp of horror, her insides melting into jelly as if she was filled with acid.

There was so much of it, leading away through the woods like a trail. Like a trail someone wanted her to follow.

And she did, knowing it must be a trap but needing to find him, to help him.

It was hard to tell how much there was, it was splattered on bushes and the sides of trees but she lied to herself that it wasn't as much as it looked like. Humans had a lot of blood inside them, 4.7-5 litres. This was no where near that... No where near the fatal forty percent loss, it was spread thinly. It only seemed like a lot...

Her pace quickened, heart beating rapidly in her chest.

Maybe it wasn't his... Maybe it was an animal.

But then why was his sleeve soaked in it and tied to a branch?

Something long and round was stretched out on top of the leaves, connecting two smears of blood, flies buzzing around it and she almost threw up when she recognized what it was.

It was a small intestine. Hacked apart and covered in hungry insects but big enough to be human.

The world spun and tears blurred her vision.

"No," she whispered her voice thick with pain. "Leo?!" She shouted, abandoning caution and bolting down down the gruesome path.

She had to find him, get to him.

And do what though? If he was still alive he wouldn't be for long.

No, it wasn't his. It couldn't be. It was an animal's, a bear or a deer. That thing was messing with her. It wouldn't just kill him, he had the trackers.

But he had left. Why had he left? She could have protected him, they could have gotten out of this together. Why did he have to be such a reckless idiot?

She reached a clearing and almost ran right into the corpse that was hanging from a tree. It was skinned and gutted and completely unrecognizable but who else was out here?

She stumbled backwards, unable to breath. Shaking her head as the tears streamed down her face.

"No," she whimpered. This was all wrong, so very wrong. "Come out you cowardly monster!" She screamed, calling to the Chitauri. "Come out and face me!"

She wasn't sure what she was expecting to happen. She couldn't kill it but she had a powerful urge to try for what it had done to him. She was so angry, in so much pain. Win or lose she wanted this to be over.

How could anyone do this to her brave, amazing Leo? She hoped he hadn't suffered, that he'd been dead when it had done this. The idea of him being alive as it had skinned him broke her and letting out a sob she fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands.

"Mmemma?" Leo called and she let out a yelp of surprise.

Peering around the body she spotted him, gagged and dangling by a rope tied around his feet from a tall tree but alive, practically unharmed.

A net lay several feet below him, tied to nearby trees so it was taught, perhaps to catch him? But why?

Relief making her dizzy she rushed over to him and laughed when the corners of his mouth tugged up and his eyes lit joyfully as he smiled at her.

"You're alright," she breathed both an assurance and an exclamation. "But then that's..." She turned back to the mutilated corpse. "Oh..." She squeaked. It was Mr. Stevens.

"MmmemmMm," he muttered expression darkening.

"I know, it's a bloody savage," she agreed angrily facing him again. "Don't worry, I'll get you down."

"Mmm," he objected, jerking his upside down head to the ropes.

She followed them to where they were tied to his feet. There were ten of them but only one held him up, showing briefly above his ankles before disappearing into a black box from which the other nine ropes stuck out. The same kind of box was on the other end and the ten ropes disappeared into it with only one coming out and holding back a switch on a device around the size of a small backpack.

"That's a bomb isn't it?" She realized with a shudder and he mmmed to say she was right.

There was screen stuck into the tree. Text across it read 'Touch to Solve.'

She exchanged a glance with Leo but realized he couldn't see the screen from where he was.

"I think it's a puzzle," she told him. "There's a screen, I think I can get instructions."

"MmmMmmMm," he warned.

"I will be careful, but I have to get you down," she asserted, leaving no time for him to argue before touching the screen.

It beeped and an unbalanced chemical equation appeared. One of the chemicals, an element, was circled and tutorial-like instructions appeared below.

'Solve then cut circled.'

A knife lay at her feet and she saw the ropes were numbered.

"This isn't so bad," she let him know. "It's just chemistry. Simple chemistry at that." She beamed at him. "I'll have you down in no time."

He smiled back uneasily, they both knew it couldn't be that simple. Either the Chitauri didn't know she had a strong background in chemistry and they'd just gotten very very lucky, or it did and there was more to the test than this.

She balanced the equation easily. Os (Osmium) was circled and she'd written a 3 beside it.

"I guess that means I cut the one with the three," she decided, taking the knife and standing up."

"Mmm?" He asked apprehensively.

"Yes I double checked my work," she answered impatiently. Of course she wasn't going to cut corners and get them both blown up. She wasn't rash like he was.

She glanced up at him to see him gazing down at her with large, frightened eyes.

"Yeah, me too," she agreed. "I'm scared too but we don't really have a choice. Are you ready?"

He nodded, eyes locked on her face and she stared back at him for a moment before smiling reassuringly and cutting the rope.

Nothing happened. The bomb didn't explode and he didn't fall to the ground. He was still dangling several feet above the net, still trapped like a wild animal.

Instead another equation appeared on the screen, a new chemical circled.

"Are you serious?" She exclaimed. She was going to have to do that again? They weren't difficult problems for her but she wasn't enjoying the stress of a small mistake having the power to lead to both their deaths.

"Mmmemm?" He inquired.

"There's another one," she told him. How many was she going to have to do? There were ten ropes and she was assuming one led to the switch, the other to him, so nine?

"It's OK," she assured him, forcing brightness into her voice. I can do this all day. It's child's work for me. No problem at all. Oh but don't worry I won't take all day," she added. "I won't leave you hanging. " she joked and he smiled fondly at her.

So she solved the new equation and then the one after that and after that until there were only three ropes left.

She cut one, expecting another equation to appear but it didn't. He wasn't released either.

In place of an equation there was a single word on the screen.

'Choose.'

If the possibility of a mistake had made her nervous before it was nothing compared to the nauseating terror that now surged through her at the thought of choosing wrong.

A test she could handle, but this? This was blind chance, dumb luck. How the hell was she supposed to just chose?

"Mmemma?" He called down to her silence.

She looked up at him miserably.

"It wants us to guess," she let him know grimly.

He didn't seem at all happy about that. His face had that expression it got before he did something reckless and dangerous and he motioned with his head for her to go.

"No," she hissed furiously. "No I am getting you out of here or I'm going to die trying."

His eyes widened in alarm and he protested as best he could.

"Mmm!" He objected.

"The left one?" She asked, feigning misunderstanding and lifting the knife to cut it.

"Mmm!" He argued and she stopped.

She stood and walked over to him, not wanting him to be afraid.

"It's OK," she soothed. "We'll be OK."

He must have realized he couldn't convince her not to, that she was going to do this however much he protested because he took a deep breath and smiled at her again his gaze warm enough to melt metal. She smiled too, comforted and encouraged.

Then she went back to the ropes, grit her teeth and cut the left one.

He fell into the net, bouncing a few times before rolling to the ground with a thump.

"Are you alright?" She asked anxiously, removing the cloth gag from his mouth and helping him untie himself, cutting him loose with the knife before pocketing it.

"I'm OK," he told her, grinning in relief. "Thank you."

She couldn't return his smile. She'd thought she wouldn't be mad at him but she was. Stupid Leo and his dumb heroics almost getting himself killed. What did he think she was some distressed damsel who would just go along with his horrible ideas?

"We should be going," she said roughly, tossing his sweater at him and frowning as she rose and began to walk away.

She didn't look back to see if he was following. He better have been following.

"That's it?" He called after her. "We're just leaving?"

"Yes, we're just leaving," she replied irritably over her shoulder. "You can just leave can't you? Or do you need to write a note first?"

"Jemma I didn't want to- I- ," he tried to explain.

"Don't," she snapped. "Let's just go, we've wasted enough time as it is."

He fell silent, maybe a little taken aback by her harshness, but he followed behind her and she was glad for the sound of his footsteps close by.

"I want you to swear to me you're never going to do that again," she demanded, unable to keep the anger from her voice as they hiked away from the trap.

"Jemma-" he began but she cut him off, not wanting to hear his boneheaded excuses.

"Swear to me," she demanded again. "We're a team do you get that? Me and you we stick together no matter what. We fix things together. Always. Don't you dare go all noble knight of Camelot on me again because I'm not some damsel in distress I'm your partner and I don't want your sacrifice I want you."

"I'm know, I'm sorry," he mumbled, sounding at least as if he felt guilty. "I just didn't-"

"I don't need your apology I need your word," she insisted.

He caught up with her and they stopped for a moment to face each other.

"Jemma I'm sorry, I just didn't want to put you in danger-" he protested, hand on her shoulder but she shook it off coldly and he returned it to his side, looking hurt.

"Well you did," she shot back. "And damn it Leo you could have been killed..." she trailed off thinking of all that blood that led her to him. Of the pain that had overcome her when she thought it was his.

He took a breath and searched her face, eyes bright and rightfully apologetic. She glared at him, letting him know she would take nothing less than his promise.

"I swear I'll never do that again," he vowed solemnly.

"If we have a problem..." she began.

"We fix it together," he continued.

"Always," she finished firmly.

"Always," he echoed softly and she believed him.

Her anger left and she gave him a small smile before pulling him into her arms and holding him close. He was familiar and comforting and filled her up goodness like warm cookies or a fluffy towel after a cold swim.

"I love you you brave, wonderful dummy head," she told him.

"I love you too you fearless, clever darling," he replied, returning her embrace and she nuzled her cheek against his.

They moved apart and she shook her head disapprovingly at him one more time before smiling at him, taking his hand and walking away with him.

"Do you really think-" he began after a minute.

"Yes, you're my noble knight," she laughed, guessing his next words.

"We can both be knights," he decided, sounding very pleased by what she'd said. "I mean you did come running to my rescue."

"As long as we're the kind that sticks together we can be noble unicorns if you want." She chuckled.

"No, we're knights," he insisted and she stopped to kiss him before they continued.

/-/-/

* * *

><p>Thanks so much for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads. :) You are all knights of fanfiction.<p>

The Fringe reference is Os (Osmium). As well as being an element it is the name of a third season episode where physics gets messed up and the super heavy element Os becomes light like Helium.

The balancing chemical equations is basically algebra. You have reactants on one side and products on the other and (because matter cannot be created or destroyed) you will have the same amount of each element (we usually wrote it in moles when I was taught it) on each side. (Even when new chemicals are made.) I find some kinda hard, haha but it would be cake for Jemma Simmons.

The talk about nights and Camelot is me trying to participate in FitzSimmons week with some fantasy. Happy FitzSimmons week :D.

The whole blood/organ trail is from Predator and so is the skinned corpse hanging from a tree. I saw the movie. Yay.


	7. Chapter 7

"It's strange that it just let us go," he commented as they swam together across a narrow portion of the river.

They had decided it would be best to just cross through the water while it was still hot and they could dry rather than look for a shallow point or a bridge that wasn't going to be there. They were a long way from civilization.

She tried to keep her sweater above her head, keep it dry and he did the same.

"I wouldn't say just," she objected, remembering its twisted puzzle. "But it is a little weird."

"Why is it doing this?" he panted, struggling with his sweater and splashing it a little.

"Let's just get ourselves across," she suggested and they were silent until they reached the sandy shore.

They rested beside each other for a few minutes, exhausted by the swim and their hunger and the fact that they'd been running around scared and stressed out for the past few days.

He rolled onto his side and brushed a few soaked leaves off her filthy shirt before wrapping an arm over her stomach and kissing her cheek.

She turned her head to face him, kissing his nose before taking him in.

He was thin and covered in dirt and his hair was dull and muddy but he didn't look defeated. Just tired. She hoped she looked the same way. She really wished they could take a nap, lay on the shore under the warm sun...

Her eyes closed for a moment.

"Why don't you rest while we dry off," he offered. "I'll keep watch."

She opened her eyes again and she searched his face. "And you won't leave," she blurted out before she could stop herself, grabbing the arm he had over her stomach.

He looked away guiltily and the sadness in his eyes made her regret her question a little.

"I won't leave you like that ever again," he promised once more.

"OK," she whispered, that was enough.

She trusted him and felt his lips on her forehead as she closed her eyes and drifted off, feeling safe with his arm around her and warmed by the sunshine.

But her sleep wasn't peaceful and she dreamt of that thing finding them, killing them and hanging their bodies as it had done to Mr. Stevens.

"Jemma? Are you OK," Leo was saying and she opened her eyes to his worried expression.

"What?" She mumbled as her dream followed her from sleep and she let out a groan before pressing her face into his shoulder.

"Are you in pain?" He demanded anxiously. "Did you get hurt crossing?"

"I had a nightmare," she told him, her voice muffled.

"You weren't asleep five minutes," he protested gently.

'Great,' she thought, letting out another groan. 'Shortest sleep to nightmare time ever. I should get into Guinness.'

"Hey, it's OK," he soothed, rubbing her stomach.

It felt nice but she couldn't shake the dread that had made its way into her.

"No it's not," she protested. "We're going to die out here."

"Jemma-" he began pacifyingly.

"We are though," she went on, burying her face further into his shoulder as her tears began. "It's completely in control, we're like rats in a maze. We're only alive because it wants us to be. I was able to rescue you because it wanted me to. It wanted to see what I'd do b-but it could have just as easily skinned you and left you there for me to find. Or killed me while I slept in the camp or kill us n-now."

"Jemma stop," he said gently.

She was stopping, here on this shore. She was done.

It wasn't as if she hadn't tried, done her best to stay strong, be brave for both of them but what was the point of continuing to suffer? What was so wrong with laying here next to him for the short rest of their lives and not having her legs burn and her feet feel like there were nails stabbing into them?

"Tell me you think we can make it," she challenged, drawing back to meet his gaze.

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it and looked away and she felt a small prickle of guilt for dragging him down with her into her despair.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, nuzzling back against him. "I'm letting you down."

"No," he soothed, stroking the side of her face. "You aren't, you've been so brave, so resourceful, so strong. I'm proud of you." He kissed her head. "I'm very, very proud of you."

She wanted to stay there, fall asleep with him and end this. Stop being afraid and hurting. Stop his fear and pain too. Nothing could have moved her in that moment except the Chitauri dragging him out of her arms. Or if he wanted to keep going.

"I'll keep going if you want me to," she told him, rolling over into him and wrapping her arm around his side. "If you want to try to get the plane I'll come with you. I'll keep you safe."

He kissed her again and left his face in her hair. "I know, I'll protect you too."

He didn't say if he wanted to go or not and they remained as they were, silent for several minutes.

"We don't have anything," he said finally, sounding resigned. "It knows where we are, it has food and water. It set all these traps, it has the materials to build them. We only have the knife because-"

"Because it was in the trap." They realized together and she pulled back her head to face him, their noses almost touching. They gave each other a small smile and she felt hope stir in her chest, knowing he had the same thought.

"They're everywhere," she pointed out.

"And we've already set off a few of them," he continued.

"With some work we could... Do you think we could?" She asked.

His smile turned to a wide grin that cleared away her cold despair like a snow plow. "I think we could," he replied as he took her with both arms and sat up, bringing her with him and making her stomach drop like she was on an amusement park ride.

She squeaked in surprise before falling back against his chest laughing. She was laughing, both because of his sudden, affectionate motion and the new hope their idea had given her. And maybe she was losing it a little too, she was so tired.

He laughed with her for a bit before they both turned serious.

"It's risky Jemma," he warned, holding her closer.

"I know," she answered, kissing his cheek. "But I'm tired of running away. There's nowhere to run. And it's you and me," she added brightly. "We can do anything."

"Well we can't dry off like this," he teased and she leaned back to scrunch her nose at him, grinning when he stuck his tongue out at her in playful retaliation, and wriggled out of his arms to stretch out on her back again.

"Oh... we could have stayed like that for a bit longer," he let her know disappointedly.

He was such a teddy bear she thought fondly.

"We need to dry off sweetheart," she insisted chuckling at him as she took his hand and they began to formulate their plan.

/-/-/

They spent the rest of the day gathering parts from traps they had set off and even springing new ones they thought would be useful.

Jemma seemed to have found her strength again and she worked alongside him with a fierce determination, focused and efficient.

They set off another hamster ball near the river and she rammed herself into it before it could chase them, smashing it with part of another trap furiously.

"No you don't," she shouted at it. "Not this time you damn evil rodent toy!"

When it was crushed into several pieces they cannibalized it for the gas producing pods and moved on.

He worked with what he hoped was the same vigor, twisting and unscrewing things to get the pieces they needed.

"You know this makes me think of that time you took apart my microscope to make that turn table," she teased as they collected pieces from the electric cage.

"Of course it does," he shot back, grinning. "You love bringing that up don't you?"

"Well I did really need it," she replied and he rolled his eyes.

"I fixed it, I used the blender remember," he reminded her.

"My blender," she replied, half annoyed but chuckling at him.

"You never used that thing anyway," he dismissed, waving his hand. "And it was for my grandmother's 80th birthday in case you forgot, she was so happy she could listen to her records again."

"Did you consider eBay?" She countered and he threw a piece of grass at her.

"You have the memory of a super computer," he kidded.

"It's better when it's about you," she told him affectionately and he turned soft and squishy and sweet as if he were made of marshmallows. Roasted marshmallows.

They made a fire again and took turns sleeping cuddled against each other. He put her head down a few times to tend to the flames but she slept on peacefully until he woke her.

At dawn they lay together and watched the sky light up, blue and pink and orange and beautiful but nothing compared to the person laying next to him.

He stared at her as she gazed at the sky and absentmindedly played with the fingers of his hand which she held over her heart.

They could do this, together. He only hoped he would have the courage to let her do her part. To let her go.

/-/-/

"Now when we've got it, you get out," he told her for what may have been the fifth time.

"I know," she assured him.

"Remember it only opens once," he reminded her. "So you make sure you're the one who goes through."

"I know," she said again, taking his face between her hands.

This was a bad idea. It was too dangerous, she was putting herself at too much risk.

"I changed my mind," he announced, placing his own hands over hers. "I think we need a new plan."

"No we don't," she assured him, stroking his cheek. "This will work."

"Yeah?" He asked, giving her a small smile. She seemed so certain. "Yeah, it'll work."

She smiled back and he shook his head. No. No, no, no. This was not a good plan.

"We can trade places," he suggested.

"No we can't," she objected firmly and he knew she was right.

This was the best way to do it, the way most likely to work. It was horrible and the best thing they had.

"I'll see you soon," she told him, her hands falling from his face but he held onto them, staring at her with round, frightened eyes.

She smiled and kissed him and he returned a small smile but didn't move.

"We should get started," she announced, rising but he grabbed her sleeve, shaking his head and she sat back down. "I don't want to do this either you know," she told him.

"Then why are we doing it?" He inquired.

She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at him. "Because the alterative is probably a horrible death," she reasoned.

"Oh, right," he mumbled, his eyes on her face.

Her sleeve was still bunched up in his hand and she gently uncurled his fingers from around it.

"Let go," she instructed softly. "We need to do this."

He nodded and placed his hand at his side. "You remember how to get out right?" He insured.

"We've practiced, we've been over this, I'm ready," she insisted. "We're both ready."

Her hands shook as she spoke and he knew she was terrified. He should be trying to make her feel better and instead he was probably only scaring her more.

"We're ready," he repeated before wrapping his arms around. "It's going to be OK."

"Yeah," she agreed, returning the embrace.

"I'll see you soon," he said, more a plea than a statement.

"And then we'll go to the plane," she added, pulling away and getting to her feet.

"And get help," he finished, rising with her and taking her hands.

She nodded and smiled at him once more before giving him a kiss and beginning to walk away. He let her fingers slip out of his, heart heavy as he watched her leave.

'Come back to me,' he thought, feeling a lump in his throat as he let her go. "Be safe!" He called after her.

"You too," she called back.

He watched her until she disappeared then, his insides feeling like lead, he left to start his part of the plan.

/-/-/

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><p>Thanks so much for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads. :) You are all super duper awesome!<p>

The Fringe reference is the taking apart the microscope to make a turn table to play records. Peter takes apart Walter's microscope to make a device which turns Walter's records into CDs. Walter is mad at first but then happy when he sees what it is.

The FitzSimmons week prompt is nightmares! Yay!

Also I have totally slept for five minutes and had a nightmare. A short nap during exam times when I was super stressed. So it was inspired by that, haha. Maybe five minutes is exaggerating, but it was a pretty short nap.


	8. Chapter 8

Jemma was waiting for the Chitauri in one of its traps. Well, the trap wasn't exactly the Chitauri's anymore since she and Leo had tinkered with it. It was on their side now, hopefully.

She was scared, really scared and the pictures of Leo's wide, worried eyes as she'd left which still flashed in her mind every now and then didn't help that. His presence not so far away, watching her from where he was hidden did however.

They were in this together, even if she couldn't see him he was there and she wasn't going to face the Chitauri alone. If something went wrong he'd come running like an army of backup agents. Which was both comforting and distressing because, though he was her hero, he was no army of backup agents and he could easily get himself killed trying to protect her.

That didn't mean they didn't have a few tricks up their sleeves though. She'd be fine, they'd both be fine.

She had to pretend that she wasn't though. She had to pretend that Leo had been caught and killed in the trap he now watched her beside, still as he could be so the trackers would be inert on the Chitauri's radar. She had to convince it he was dead and she was trapped and waiting for it.

It wasn't hard to look frightened but her words needed work.

"Oh no, this is the... worst. So awful. I am so sad and... doomed," she wailed. Maybe it was better if she stayed silent so she buried her face into her knees and pretended to cry hopelessly.

/-/-/

Leo watched her anxiously from his position. The trap was ready, the wire leading to the cage hidden beneath piles of leaves was connected properly to the box which would send the charge down it at the flip of a switch. A switch which he was very careful of with Jemma still in the cage.

So many things could go wrong but he tried not to think about them as he watched her pretending to cry.

She was only about a dozen meters away and he could be there in a few heartbeats if she needed him. If that ugly, scaly grey monster tried to hurt her he'd descend upon it like an angry wolverine.

And it wasn't as if she was helpless. Its traps had given them weapons to use against it and she had a few including the knife. It was going to be fine. They were a team and a damn good one at that.

The thought, however, didn't stop his chest from tightening and his breath from catching as it approached precious, wonderful Jemma with that murderously long blade.

/-/-/

It was coming and the squeak of fear she let out was not a bluff. She scrambled away from it and the long sharp knife it held and pressed her back against the hidden trick door at the back of the cage.

'Not yet,' she reminded herself, fighting the urge to run. 'Wait until it's in the cage.'

"I expected more from you two," it taunted as it opened the door and the sound of its voice made her skin crawl, her breaths come in short, rapid gasps. "Must be hard for you, all alone now though. Poor lonely little rabbit. Don't worry, you'll see your friend soon."

'Yes, after we fry you like a mosquito on a lamp,' she thought hotly. It thought she was a rabbit? A rabbit with claws maybe.

It was in the cage now with her and the door snapped shut behind it. It turned in surprise and she used the distraction to set off one of the gas pods, holding her breath as she slipped out the trap door which locked behind her with a thunk.

"Leo now!" she shouted and the caged crackled with electricity, causing the Chitauri to convulse and scream.

Despite the pain it had caused them it was a disturbing sight and she found she couldn't watch so she turned away. A near fatal mistake because the Chitauri whipped a metal wire at her and it coiled around her arm, sending a painful shock through her body.

She screamed before blacking out.

/-/-/

Leo turned off the power the instant he heard her awful, painful screams. She quickly fell silent and both her and the Chitauri lay very still.

This was a bad plan, a very very bad plan and he should never have let her do it. His vision blurred and he shook as he rose up. She had to be alive, she had to be OK.

He rushed to her side, crashing to his knees next to her in a panic, looking her over as he touched her arm lightly, not wanting to hurt her.

"Jemma!?" He exclaimed, reaching to check for a pulse but her eyes flickered open slightly and she groaned.

"Oww," she complained and he let out a sigh of relief. "Is it dead?" She asked weakly, eyes wide and struggling to get up.

"Hey, no, no, no," he protested, pushing her gently back down. "It's dead." He glanced over at its unmoving form to be sure. "Just relax, take your time. Can I take this off?" His hands hovered above the wires coiled around her arm.

She nodded and he kissed her forehead and stroked her cheek comfortingly.

The wires were warm, almost hot still, and he carefully bent them apart before lifting her arm very gently and sliding it off. She winced as he did it and he frowned sympathetically. Poor Jemma, he really hoped she wasn't hurt too badly.

"You're OK," he assured her softly, taking her good hand for a moment before retrieving the knife to cut away her sleeve. "This shirt is ruined though," he joked and she smiled, eyes closed.

"I think I'm feeling better," she told him, her voice stronger now as she opened them again. "Nice try you evil lunatic alien monster." She spat at it, almost smug and lifting her head slightly. "My arm really hurts though." She added, laying back down.

As he moved the fabric away he could see why. The skin was badly burned where the coil had touched it, all red and yellow and blistering. He'd seen a burn like this once at the academy, a student who hadn't paid enough attention to safety measures while working on an engine.

"I think it's a second degree burn," he guessed.

"A superficial one," she added, struggling again to sit up.

This time he helped her and let her lean on him as she examined it.

"We should get you to the river," he suggested.

"Yeah," she agreed dazedly, wincing again. "Some cool water would feel really nice." However she seemed daunted by the idea of hiking there through the woods.

"You can rest for a bit if you'd like," he offered but she shook her head and rose shakily to her feet.

"I want to get out of here," she insisted and he really couldn't argue with that so he assisted her as they walked back to the river.

It wasn't too far and she made it OK through the woods. She was walking normally, if maybe a little slow. He kept asking her how she felt, always watching her out of the corner of his eye and she seemed fine except for the burn. But what did he know? He wasn't a doctor she could have something wrong he didn't notice. The thought made him worried all over again and he continued to fuss over her even after she began to seem slightly annoyed at his constant questions.

"And you don't have a headache?" He made sure, nearly tripping over a branch as he stared at her.

"Not yet," she warned, only half joking. "And watch where you're stepping, the last thing we need is for you to break something."

He would have grumbled something back except that her eyes were glazed over and weary and she was struggling to keep up.

"You're doing really well, we're almost there," he murmured instead and she gave him a brave smile before trooping on.

/-/-/

Getting to the plane was slow and incredibly difficult. Leo helped her as best he could but between the shock and her hunger and exhaustion Jemma was really struggling. It didn't help that he was hungry and tired too and it was hard for him to let her lean on him.

But they made it to the river and she cooled the burn in the water and it felt so nice.

Leo dug a hole while she let the water run over her arm and made her drink first. He kept looking at her like she was going to burst into flames or have a heart attack or something and she did her best to assure him she was fine because she didn't want him to worry and, honestly, he was driving her a little crazy with his constant questions.

They got halfway up the mountain, about ten meters from the plane, when she couldn't do it anymore. It was too steep and she stumbled as her legs shook and turned to paper.

Leo tried to catch her but he was at the end of his endurance as well and they collapsed together to the ground.

"Jemma?" He inquired anxiously, lifting her chin.

"I'm alright," she assured him. "Just go, it's not far. Get help."

He continued to stare at her, round eyes filled with concern.

"Leo," she sighed. "Can you... Just... I'll be fine. I can't keep climbing though, it's too steep."

He made sure the knife was in her hands before he kissed her and rose to his feet.

"If you need me, if you think a bear or something is coming, you call me," he insisted. What was he thinking? Of course she'd call for help if she saw a dangerous animal. "I don't care if it turns out to be a particularly noisy fluffy squirrel I'll come running every time." He added and she smiled at her brave squirrel chaser.

"I know," she told him, touching his leg. "Go, I'll wait here for you."

He returned after around twenty minutes with the radio in hand. Coulson's voice crackled out of it.

"Simmons?" He asked and she laughed in relief.

"I'm here," she let him know happily.

She and Leo made a fire so the helicopter Coulson had sent could see the smoke. Then they huddled together and waited.

Jemma leaned her head on his chest like a pillow and drifted in and out of sleep, despite the pain in her arm.

Relief and the warmth of the fire had made her sleepy and Leo promised to stay awake to wave down the helicopter.

When it finally arrived the loud, windy chopping sound woke her up and they grinned at each other.

They had made it, together they had survived what seemed impossible to escape and now they were going home.

/-/-/

They lay together in Jemma's bunk which felt like a cloud. They were both clean and fed and Jemma had been checked out by a doctor and was fine.

They'd received a bear hug from Skye who'd, managed to get both of them into her arms at the same time, and eaten a whole cheese ball just the two of them. With animal crackers because that was all Trip could find in the cupboard. It was delicious.

They really had been rats in a maze. The traps had been an experiment, a test by the Chitauri to discover the limits of human abilities and to search for weaknesses. Their team had found its notes in the woods. It had done this before, drawing small planes into the side of the mountain like metal to magnets with a special device and then terrorizing the survivors. It moved around, to different parts of the world so not to attract attention. Their team was looking into if there were others like it but had insisted the two of them get some sleep.

He was fine with that, he was so tired and Jemma really needed a long rest.

"Can our wedding have candles?" She murmured after he had thought she'd fallen asleep.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" He asked, surprised.

"Just for candles," she told him. "Jasmine scented. It symbolizes love and happiness." She yawned.

"We can have candles," he agreed, pulling the blanket up and tucking it around her. "All of them jasmine scented except one. One will be cinnamon."

She chuckled at him, eyes closed. "Why?"

"Then we can have a contest to see who can sniff it out," he kidded and she chuckled again.

"Alright, deal." She agreed. "Anything you want other than one cinnamon candle?"

"You," he told her and she opened her eyes, which were filled with affection as she smiled at him. "And mini-cupcakes." He went on. "And-"

"No," she told him. "We aren't having a trained monkey hand out anything."

"But-" he protested.

"No, could you image what my grandmother would say?" She countered.

"What an adorable little monkey?" He guessed.

"I forgot you haven't spent much time with my grandmother," she giggled, shuffling over to kiss him before closing her eyes again.

"Sleep well," she wished him.

"Sweet dreams," he answered warmly before turning out the light.

He'd sway her towards the monkey eventually, he had plenty of time and he was charming. He was charming right?

It didn't matter if he couldn't though he'd be happy just for her to be there. What a great candle choice, jasmine. Jemma was a lot if things to him but happiness and love were at the core of all of them.

He could almost smell the candles as he let himself fall asleep beside her. Almost, except he didn't know what jasmine smelled like. He decided it smelled like Jemma, like happiness and love.

* * *

><p>Thanks for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads! You all get an I survived an evil alien t-shirt!<p>

The Fringe reference is the candles. They are from the Bishop Revival. There is a wedding where are all jasmine scented candles but the bad guy puts a cinnamon scented one in the mix which has a toxin which can target people with specific genes and kills most of the grooms side.


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